The invention relates to an internal combustion engine with at least one camshaft which can be shifted axially by means of a shifting device and has several switchable cams for each valve, with different axial positions relative to each other.
For variation of the valve lift curve during engine operation in order to ensure optimum valve opening and closing times for each particular operating state of the engine, it is desirable to switch between several cam types per valve during operation. This may be achieved with the use of an axially shiftable camshaft with different cams for each valve.